Persian Literature, Volume 2, Comprising The Shah Nameh | Page 6

you can get rid of it only by death. Men soured by
misfortune anxiously desire that the state and fortune of the prosperous
may decline; if the eye of the bat is not suited for seeing by day, how
can the fountain of the sun be to blame? Dost thou require the truth? It
were better a thousand such eyes should suffer, rather than that the light
of the sun were obscured.
VI
They tell a story of a Persian king who had stretched forth the arm of
oppression over the subjects' property, and commenced a system of
violence and rapacity to such a degree that the people emigrated to
avoid the vexatiousness of his tyranny, and took the road of exile to
escape the annoyance of his extortions. Now that the population was
diminished and the resources of the state had failed, the treasury
remained empty, and enemies gathered strength on all sides. Whoever
may expect a comforter on the day of adversity, say, let him practise
humanity during the season of prosperity; if not treated cordially, thy
devoted slave will forsake thee; show him kindness and affection, and
the stranger may become the slave of thy devotion.
One day they were reading, in his presence, from the Sháh Námeh, of
the tyrant Zohák's declining dominion and the succession of Feridún.
The vizir asked the king, saying: "Can you so far comprehend that
Feridún had no revenue, domain, or army, and how the kingdom came
to be confirmed with him?" He answered: "As you have heard, a body
of people collected about him from attachment, and gave their
assistance till he acquired a kingdom." The vizir said: "Since, O sire, a

gathering of the people is the means of forming a kingdom, how come
you in fact to cause their dispersion unless it be that you covet not a
sovereignty? So far were good that thou wouldst patronize the army
with all thy heart, for a king with an army constitutes a principality."
The king asked: "What are the best means of collecting an army and
yeomanry?" He replied: "Munificence is the duty of a king, that the
people may assemble around him, and clemency, that they may rest
secure under the asylum of his dominion and fortune, neither of which
you have. A tyrant cannot govern a kingdom, for the duty of a shepherd
is not expected from the wolf. A king that can anyhow be accessory to
tyranny will undermine the wall of his own sovereignty."
The advice of the prudent minister did not accord with the disposition
of the king. He ordered him to be confined, and immured him in a
dungeon. It soon came to pass that the sons of the king's uncle rose in
opposition, levied an army in support of their pretensions, and claimed
the sovereignty of their father. A host of the people, who had cruelly
suffered under the arm of his extortion and were dispersed, gathered
around and succored them till they dispossessed him of his kingdom
and established them in his stead. That king who can approve of
tyrannizing over the weak will find his friend a bitter foe in the day of
hardship. Deal fairly with thy subjects, and rest easy about the warfare
of thine enemies, for with an upright prince his yeomanry is an army.
* * * * *
VIII
They asked Hormuz, son of Nushirowan, "What fault did you find with
your father's ministers that you ordered them into confinement?" He
replied: "I saw no fault that might deserve imprisonment; yet I
perceived that any reverence for me makes a slight impression on their
minds, and that they put no implicit reliance on my promise. I feared
lest from an apprehension of their own safety they might conspire my
ruin; therefore, put in practice that maxim of philosophers who have
told us: 'Stand in awe, O wise man, of him who stands in awe of thee,
notwithstanding thou canst cope with a hundred such as he. Therefore
will the snake bite the herdsman's foot, because it fears that he will

bruise its head with a stone. Seest thou not that now that the cat is
desperate it will tear out the tiger's eyes with its claws.'"
IX
In his old age an Arab king was grievously sick, and had no hopes of
recovery, when, lo! a messenger on horseback presented himself at the
palace-gate, and joyfully announced, saying: "Under his majesty's good
fortune we have taken such a stronghold, made the enemy prisoners of
war, and reduced all the landholders and vassals of that quarter to
obedience as subjects." On hearing this news the king fetched a cold
sigh, and answered: "These glad tidings are not intended for me but for
my rivals, namely, the heirs of